Providing missed call and message information

ABSTRACT

Information associated with messages and/or missed calls is provided to a subscriber. Calls received but not answered by the subscriber may be monitored. Each monitored call is classified as one of a missed call and a message. The monitored calls may be summarized based on a customizable rule set to create a summary. The summary is provided to the subscriber via, for example, a voice notification.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/324,761, filed Jul. 7, 2014 (now U.S. Pat. No. 9,544,436), entitled“PROVIDING MISSED CALL AND MESSAGE INFORMATION,” which application is acontinuation of Ser. No. 13/960,686, filed Aug. 6, 2013 (now U.S. Pat.No. 8,798,239), entitled “PROVIDING MISSED CALL AND MESSAGEINFORMATION,” which application is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/351,436, filed Jan. 17, 2012 (now U.S. Pat. No.8,548,130), entitled “PROVIDING MISSED CALL AND MESSAGE INFORMATION,”which application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/301,238, filed Dec. 12, 2005 (now U.S. Pat. No. 8,126,120), entitled“PROVIDING MISSED CALL AND MESSAGE INFORMATION,” the completedisclosures of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference intheir entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to the field of information services, and moreparticularly, to providing information related to messages and/or missedcalls over, for example, a telephone interface.

BACKGROUND

Conventional voicemail systems apply limited intelligence whenpresenting a user's messages and/or missed calls. For example, avoicemail system may simply play back the messages received in the orderreceived, and/or present basic information such as the phone number,date, and time of call. More sophisticated voicemail systems may presentadditional functionality, however the user is often dragged through aprolific number of menus to retrieve the desired information. Instead ofadvantageously grouping calls when initially presenting information,such that message and missed call review is more efficient, the user isstill forced to process call information in an unwieldy and basicallyserial manner.

SUMMARY

In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, a method ofproviding information associated with messages and/or missed calls to asubscriber is presented. The method includes monitoring calls receivedbut not answered by the subscriber. Each monitored call is classified asone of a missed call and a message. The monitored calls are summarizedbased on a customizable rule set to create a summary. The summary isprovided to the subscriber.

In accordance with related embodiments of the invention, the summary mayinclude one or more identifiers summarizing the monitored calls. Theremay be no more than a predetermined number of identifiers. The number ofidentifiers may be configurable. At least one identifier may be a calleridentity associated with at least one monitored call. Summarizing themonitored calls may include performing a reverse lookup in a personaladdress book related to the subscriber, so as to retrieve the calleridentity. The caller identity may be one of a name and a nickname of acaller associated with the at least one monitored call. Summarizing themonitored calls may include using caller ID to identify the calleridentity. The caller identity may be associated with a plurality ofmonitored calls from at least two different phone numbers. Providing thesummary may include providing a plurality of caller identities in anorder based on when the monitored calls associated with the calleridentities were received. One of the identifiers may be a generalidentifier indicating a number of callers not associated with a calleridentity provided in the summary. The general identifier may be providedwhen the phone number of a calling party associated with a monitoredcall is blocked or private. The general identifier may be provided whena calling party does not have an associated contact in the personaladdress book of the subscriber.

In accordance with further related embodiments of the invention,providing the summary may be triggered based on an event. The event maybe detecting that the subscriber has gone off-hook, detecting that thesubscriber has gone on-line, detecting that the subscriber has pressed abutton on a phone, and/or detecting that the subscriber has opened aphone. The message may be a voice message, a video message, an emailmessage, a text message, a multimedia message, an instant message,and/or a voice instant message. The customizable rule set may be definedby the subscriber and/or a service provider. The method may furtherinclude providing to the subscriber a command option. The command optionmay include a drill down command, a return call command, and/or an addto personal address book command. Providing the summary may includeproviding a voice notification. The voice notification may includeproviding a pre-recorded name from an audio library, which may be in thesubscriber's own voice. Providing the voice notification may includeconverting text to speech.

In accordance with another embodiment of the invention, a method ofproviding information associated with messages and/or missed calls to asubscriber is presented. The method includes monitoring calls receivedbut not answered by the subscriber. Each monitored call is classified asone of a missed call and a message. A review of each of the monitoredcalls is prepared based on a customizable rule set. The review isprovided to the subscriber.

In accordance with related embodiments of the invention, the review isprovided to the subscriber upon the subscriber accessing a messagecenter. The review may group the monitored calls into one or moregroups. The subscriber may have random access to one of the groups.Preparing the review may include determining whether each of themonitored calls is from a caller identity associated with a personaladdress book related to the subscriber, wherein grouping the monitoredcalls includes grouping the monitored calls by caller identity. Groupingthe monitored calls may be a function of whether the caller identity isone of a user-defined group. The calls in each group of callers may besorted in an order. The order may be based on time, urgency, a number ofcalls made by a caller identity, and/or whether the monitored call isassociated with a personal address book of the subscriber. The reviewmay include a time of at least one of the monitored calls. The time maybe an elapsed time since the monitored call, or an approximate time ofcall. The review may further include providing the subscriber withcommand options, such as a return call command and/or an add to personaladdress book command.

In further related embodiments of the invention, providing the reviewmay include providing a voice response. The voice response may be apre-recorded name from an audio library, which may be recorded in thesubscriber's own voice. Providing the voice response may includeconverting text to speech. Preparing the review may include grouping themonitored calls into one or more threads. Grouping the monitored callsinto one or more threads may include converting speech of at least onemessage to text, searching the text for at least one word, and groupingthe monitored calls based on whether the text was found.

In accordance with another embodiment, a system for providinginformation associated with messages and/or missed calls to a subscriberis presented. The system includes a monitoring agent for monitoringcalls received but not answered by the subscriber. A classificationmodule classifies each monitored call as one of a missed call and amessage. A summarizing module summarizes the monitored calls based on acustomizable rule set to create a summary. A notification moduleprovides the summary to the subscriber.

In accordance with related embodiments of the invention, the summary mayinclude one or more identifiers summarizing the monitored calls. Theremay be no more than a predetermined number of identifiers. The number ofidentifiers may be configurable. At least one of the identifiers mayinclude a caller identity associated with at least one monitored call.The caller identity may be retrieved from a personal address bookassociated with the subscriber. The caller identity may be a name or anickname of a caller associated with the at least one monitored call.The caller identity may be retrieved using caller ID. The calleridentity may be associated with a plurality of monitored calls from atleast two different phone numbers. One of the identifiers may be ageneral identifier indicating a number of callers not associated with acaller identity provided in the summary. The general identifier maypertain, at least in part, to a monitored call having a phone number ofa calling party that is blocked or private. The general identifier maypertain, at least in part, to a monitored call not associated with thepersonal address book of the subscriber.

In accordance with further related embodiments of the invention, atrigger module may provide a trigger to the notification module, withthe notification module providing the summary notification to thesubscriber upon receiving the trigger. The trigger may provide thetrigger to the notification module upon detecting that the subscriberhas gone off-hook, detecting that the subscriber has opened a phone,detecting that the subscriber pressed a button on a phone, and/ordetecting that the subscriber has gone on-line. The message may be avoice message, a video message, an email message, a multi-media message,instant message, a voice instant message, and a text message. Thecustomizable rule set may be defined by at least one of the subscriberand a service provider. The notification module may include a voicemodule for providing the review to the subscriber via speech. The voicemodule may include an audio library of at least one pre-recorded name,which may be recorded in the subscriber's own voice. The voice modulemay be capable of converting text-to-speech.

In accordance with another embodiment of the invention, a system forproviding information associated with messages and/or missed calls to asubscriber is presented. The system includes a monitoring agent formonitoring calls received but not answered by the subscriber. Aclassification module classifies each monitored call as one of a missedcall and a message. A review module prepares a review of each of themonitored calls based on a customizable rule set. A response moduleprovides the review to the subscriber.

In accordance with related embodiments of the invention, the responsemodule may provide the review to the subscriber upon the subscriberaccessing a message center. The review module may divide the monitoredcalls into two or more groups. The response module may provide to thesubscriber random access to one of the groups. At least one of themonitored calls may be from a caller identity associated, for example,with a personal address book related to the subscriber and/or a callerID associated with the monitored call. At least one group of calls maybe from a single caller identity associated with a plurality ofmonitored calls from at least two different phone numbers. The groupsmay be a function of whether the caller identity is one of auser-defined group. The calls in each group may be sorted in an order.The order may be based on time, urgency, a number of calls made by acaller identity, and/or whether the monitored call is associated with apersonal address book of the subscriber. The review may include a timeof at least one of the monitored calls. The time may be an elapsed timesince the monitored call, or an approximate time of call.

In further related embodiments of the invention, the response module mayinclude a voice response module for providing the review to thesubscriber by speech. The response module may provide the subscriberwith command options, such as a return call command and/or an add topersonal address book command.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing features of the invention will be more readily understoodby reference to the following detailed description, taken with referenceto the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1(a) is a flow diagram illustrating voice notification and messagecenter access, in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 1(b) is a block diagram of a system architecture for monitoringmissed calls and messages, and for providing voice notification, inaccordance with one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 shows an exemplary signal flow diagram for capturing missed callinformation, in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 shows an illustrative process for consolidating message andmissed call information in a notification summary table, in accordancewith one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4 is an exemplary notification summary table, in accordance withone embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 5 shows an illustrative process for notifying a subscriber of bothmissed calls and messages, in accordance with one embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 6 is an exemplary table illustrating voice notifications based onmonitored calls, in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 7 is an exemplary table illustrating message prompts provided by amessage center based on the type of missed call or message, inaccordance with one embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 8 shows exemplary voice prompts provided by the message center withregard to the time the missed call or message was received.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In illustrative embodiments of the invention, messages and/or missedcalls made to a subscriber are summarized. When integrated with apersonal address book, the summary may efficiently provide both thenumber of missed calls and messages, and names of callers. Thesubscriber may be provided with the summary of missed calls and messagesupon going off-hook. A more detailed review of each missed call andmessage may be provided by accessing a message center.

FIG. 1(a) is a flow diagram illustrating summarization of messagesand/or missed calls and message center review/drill down, in accordancewith one embodiment of the invention. Upon a triggering event, such asthe subscriber going off-hook, a summary 10 of the missed calls and/ormessages is provided. Summary 10 provides a succinct and concisestatement of the monitored calls. Summary 10 may be created using, forexample, a customizable rule set. Summary 10 may be provided to thesubscriber via, without limitation, a voice notification. Upon hearingsummary 10, the caller may then access a message center review/drilldown 20 to receive a review via, without limitation, a voice interface.Message center review/drill down 20 provides more detailed informationabout each of the missed calls and/or messages. The subscriber maychoose to listen to each message received, or a subset of the messagesreceived. The missed calls and/or messages presented during messagecenter review/drill down 20 may be advantageously grouped and/or orderedto make the review more efficient. If desired, the subscriber may skipthe summary 10 and immediately access message center review/drill down30. Furthermore, at any point, the caller may interrupt the summary 10or message review/drill down 20 and 30 and proceed, for example, with acall.

FIG. 1(b) is a block diagram of a service provider system architecture100 for monitoring missed calls and/or messages, and for providing asummary of the missed calls and messages and/or a message center review,in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. In such anarchitecture, a subscriber 101 may place or receive calls through anysuitable medium, such as a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) 103or through Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP). If a subscriber 101initiates or receives a call via the PSTN, the call passes through aclass 5 switch 105. If the subscriber initiates or receives a call viaVOIP, the call passes through a softswitch 115 that mimics a class 5PSTN switch.

A Monitoring Agent (MA) resides at both the softswitch 115 and at thePSTN class 5 switch 105. The MA monitors subscriber activities at thePSTN Class 5 switch 105 or softswitch 115 and interfaces with a featureserver 106 when triggered or otherwise appropriate. If the call isprocessed through the PSTN, the MA interfaces with the feature server106 via a VOIP gateway 130. If the call is VOIP, a softswitch 115connects the call to feature server 106. The protocol used betweenfeature server 106 and VOIP gateway 130 or soft switch 105 may be,without limitation, SIP (Session Initiation Protocol).

Feature server 106 performs intelligent call and/or message control. Forexample, upon receiving information from the MA, feature server 106 mayeither provide and/or initiate a session with various services on,without limitation, a web server. These services include, withoutlimitation, a missed call server 112, a message server 113, and anotification server 114. Servers 112, 113 and 114 combine to provide thefunctionality required by feature server 106 to monitor, process, andintelligently notify the subscriber of any missed calls and messages.Servers 112, 113, and 114 may create or have access to various databasesor service in assisting with this functionality, such as a notificationtable 120, a personal address book 121, a CNAME database 122, and/or adirectory service 123. The services and functionality provided to thesubscriber may be based on which services he subscribes to. Thecommunication protocol between feature server 106 and these otherservers 112, 113 and 114 may be, for example, HTTP (Hypertext TransferProtocol).

For voice recognition and/or to generate summary voice notifications ormessage center review responses back to the subscriber, feature server106 may initiate a session with an Interactive Voice Recognition andResponse (IVRR) server 140 using, for example, SIP. IVRR server 140obtains the IP address of either VOIP gateway 130 or a VOIP telephonefrom feature server 106 during the SIP communications. For example,feature server 106 may provide IVRR server 140 with text that IVRRserver 140 converts into a voice signal using a text-to-speechapplication. IVRR server 140 transfers the speech to VOIP gateway 130 ordirectly to the VOIP phone using real-time protocol (RTP). IVRR 140 mayinclude, but is not limited to, a media server 147, a voice extendedmarkup language (VXML) browser 148, an audio server 149, a speechrecognition module 152, and a text to speech engine 150, which mayfurther include several audio libraries 151.

FIG. 2 shows an exemplary signal flow diagram for capturing missed callinformation, in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. Acaller initiates a VOIP call to the subscriber and passes an invite 210via a carrier network through soft switch 115. The MA at soft switch 115acts as a proxy server and notifies feature server 106 of this event,and the invite 210 is routed to the subscriber. Upon receiving invite210, the subscriber sends a ring response 220 to the caller, and thesubscriber's phone rings. Upon the caller hanging up, a cancel signal230 is detected by the MA. The MA notifies feature server 106 of thecancel signal 230. Feature server 106 then proceeds to initiate asession with one or more services to log the missed call notification240. Information pertaining to the missed call may be stored, forexample, in a notification summary table, as described below inconnection with FIG. 4.

Feature server 106 may receive message information from a variety ofentities in various formats. For example, the messages delivered mayinclude, without limitation, a voice message, an email message, a videomessage, a multi-media message, an instant message, a instant messageand/or a text message. The methods in which these messages may bedelivered include, for example, a phone call, email, a chat session, avideo display, and/or text messaging. The messages may be sent to afeature server and/or message server via, without limitation, a PSTNand/or a network, such as the Internet. The message itself may be storedat, without limitation, the service provider's network, the user'sterminal such as the user's handset or computer, and/or at a third partyrepository.

FIG. 3 shows a process for consolidating message and/or missed callinformation in a notification summary table, in accordance with oneembodiment of the invention. The process begins at either step 302, inwhich missed call server 112 receives a missed call notification fromthe feature server 106 or step 303, in which message server 113 receivesa message notification from feature server 106.

Upon monitoring the missed call and/or message, the presence ofassociated call party information is determined in step 304. Forexample, Automatic Number Identification (ANI) includes the callingparty's phone number, and is typically sent by a telephone company alongwith a request for connection, which rings the subscriber's phone. Invarious embodiments, caller ID may be provided with the call, andincludes the name of the calling party.

If ANI is present and provides the caller's phone number, a reverselookup in the subscriber's personal address book 121 is performed todetermine the contact name and/or identity of the caller, step 306. Thepersonal address book 121 is a database that stores the subscriber'scontacts, including for example, the names, addresses, email addressesand/or telephone numbers of the contact. The personal address book 121may be stored at, without limitation, the service provider's network, atthe user's terminal such as the user's handset or computer, and/or at athird party repository. Traditionally, contacts in the personal addressbook 121 may be added or deleted manually via, without limitation, thesubscriber's cellular phone or home phone. In illustrative embodimentsof the invention, more proactive techniques for updating the personaladdress book 121 may include, for example, providing the subscriber theoption to update the personal address book 121 upon the subscribercalling a number, or upon the caller stating “call back” when listeningto messages or missed calls.

If a match is not found in the subscriber's personal address book 121,the service provider may check sources other than the personal addressbook of the subscriber to determine the name and/or identity of thecaller. For example, a reverse look up may be performed comparing thephone number retrieved in the ANI with a shared directory service or adirectory assistance database 123 to determine the name of the caller,step 308. If a match is still not found, a Calling Name Delivery (CNAME)network query may be performed, step 310. Furthermore, if the call is awireless call, ANI II may be consulted. In various embodiments, theservice provider may determine the best source of information on whichto base the voice notification. For example, personal address book 121of the subscriber may be the best source since the subscriber may have,for example, indicated preferences as to how each caller should bereferred as, such as a nickname (e.g., the voice notification for “SarahClone” should be “Mom”).

If the name or identity of the calling party is found, that name isassociated with the monitored call, step 312. Information pertaining tothe missed calls and/or messages is then stored in a notificationsummary table in step 314. The notification summary table may be storedat, without limitation, the service provider's network, at a userterminal such as the user's handset or computer, and/or at a third partyrepository. An exemplary notification summary table 400 is shown in FIG.4, in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. Table 400includes a name 402 and number of a caller 403, along with type (messageor missed call) 404, whether the contact is in the personal address book405, and the number of calls the caller made 406. Note that in step 304,if it is determined that ANI is not present, a privacy check isperformed in step 318 to determine whether the caller name is blocked orsimply unknown. This information may be provided in the notificationsummary table 400 under the column associated with the name of thecaller 402.

FIG. 5 shows a flowchart for providing a notification to a subscriberthat includes a summary of both missed calls and messages, in accordancewith one embodiment of the invention. The notification of the missedcalls and messages may be initiated when the subscriber picks up thephone, step 502. It is to be understood that the notification may alsobe triggered by other events, such as a called party hanging up thephone, or going on-line when using a softphone. Still other triggeringevents may include the subscriber opening a phone, or pressing a buttonon a phone. Upon the local switch detecting the off-hook trigger, an SIPinvite is sent to feature server 106, step 504. Feature server 106 maythen provide a voice dial tone in which all features of the serviceprovider are enabled, including summary notification of missed callsand/or messages. Other features provided by the service provider mayinclude, without limitation, voice dialing, message center, personaladdress book, games, and system settings. In various embodiments, thesubscriber may be provided with other default dial tones that disableall or some of the features made available by the service provider. Whennotification of missed calls and/or messages is disabled, a stutter dialtone may be played, for example, if there are any new missed callsand/or messages. In such embodiments, the subscriber may, upon forexample pressing certain DTMF keys, switch their default dial tone tothe voice dial tone.

When a voice dial tone that enables summary notifications is provided,and upon receiving the SIP invite, feature server 106 accessesnotification summary table 400 in step 506, and determines whether thereare any entries in notification summary table 400 in step 508. If thereare no entries, the subscriber will continue to hear the voice dial toneand select options made available by the service provider, step 510. Ifthere is an entry, a summary of the monitored missed calls and/ormessages is provided via, without limitation, a voice notification, step512. In various embodiments, the summary may be provided to thesubscriber by other communication means known in the art, such as avideo and/or multi-media notification.

The summary contained in the voice notification may provide the names ofvarious callers using pre-recorded names in an audio library 151. Theprerecorded names may be, for example in the subscriber's ownprerecorded voice, or a voice provided by the service provider.Alternatively, the summary may provide the name of a caller byconverting the text of the caller's name found in the personal addressbook to speech. This may be accomplished using, without limitation, ahigh quality text-to-speech conversion program, as known in the art. Thesummary may provide the entire name of the caller as entered in thepersonal address book, or may provide a shortened nickname, which maybe, without limitation, a user provided nickname stored in the personaladdress book of the subscriber.

Since the voice notification may occur as soon as the subscriber picksup the phone, it is vital that the summary provided in the voicenotification be efficient. The most relevant information is generallyprovided first. For example, a caller that called repeatedly may bepresented first, as it may be indicative of some urgency. Upon receivingthe summary, the subscriber may have the option, for example, to accessthe message center to drill down and get more detailed information abouta particular call, return a call, add the caller to the subscriber'spersonal address book, or select other options available through theservice provider.

In illustrative embodiments of the invention, the summary of missedcalls and messages provided in the voice notification in step 512 is afunction of classifying each monitored call as one of a missed call or amessage; and determining whether each of the monitored calls is from acaller associated with a personal address book related to the subscriberor optionally, another source. More particularly, generating the summarymay include, without limitation: determining the number of missed callsnot associated with the personal address book; determining the number ofmissed calls associated with the personal address book; determining thenumber of messages not associated with the personal address book;determining the number of messages associated with the personal addressbook; and determining the number of monitored calls from the same calleracross one or more phone lines.

Customizable rules may advantageously be applied in generating thesummary in the voice notification. The rules may be heuristic orempirically based and may take into account, without limitation, typicalhuman weighting of the importance of the monitored calls. For example,if many calls are received from the same caller in a certain period oftime, this may indicate some urgency to the calls which may weighheavily on notification.

In illustrative embodiments, the summary may include one or moreidentifiers to summarize the monitored calls. The number of identifiersin the summary may be no more than a predetermined number. In thismanner, the subscriber does not have to listen to an overly longnotification upon, for example, going off-hook, but rather hears aconcise summary. In some embodiments, the predetermined number ofidentifiers is, without limitation, three. The predetermined number ofidentifiers may be a configurable parameter within the service providersystem architecture 100. For example, the predetermined number ofidentifiers may be user configurable.

The identifiers may be of various types. A first type of identifier is acaller identity that includes a caller name associated with one or moremonitored calls. As described in above embodiments, the caller name maybe, for example, retrieved from a reverse lookup performed using thesubscriber's personal address book or other source. This first type ofidentifier may also include, in addition to the caller name, otherminimal information, such as the number of monitored calls received fromthat caller and a time associated with one or more of the calls. Invarious embodiments, only those calls from ANI's found in the user'spersonal address book are included by name in the summary. This may beuser configurable.

An example of a voice notification with three identifiers, eachidentifier being a caller identity is: “You missed calls from John, Kimand Laura.” The order that the caller names are presented may be basedon when the monitored calls associated with the caller identities werereceived. If the same caller made multiple calls, even from differentnumbers, the voice notification may advantageously group these callstogether into one identifier. For example, assume the following callsare monitored: a message from Brian (cell phone), a missed call fromBrian (home phone), and a message from Leo. The voice notification maybe “You got calls from Brian and Leo.”

Another type of identifier may be a general identifier that indicates,without limitation, a number of callers not associated with a calleridentity provided in the voice notification. An example of a voicenotification with three identifiers, with two identifiers being a calleridentity and one identifier being a general identifier is: “You gotmessages from Mark, Brian and 3 others.” The general identifier may beused when, without limitation, there are more than a predeterminednumber of identifiers that can be provided; when the call number isblocked or private; and/or the caller does not have an associatedcontact in the personal address book of the subscriber. For example,assume the following calls are monitored: a message from Mom, a messagefrom Brian, a missed call from Mom, a message Brian, a missed call from650-940-3458, a blocked number, and a missed call from Lauren. The voicenotification may be “You got calls from Mom, Brian, and 3 others.”

FIG. 6 is a table illustrating exemplary voice notifications that may beprovided based on the monitored calls, in accordance with one embodimentof the invention. As can be seen, generating the voice notification mayinclude determining: whether one or more of the monitored calls areassociated with the subscriber's personal address book; whether themonitored calls include only missed calls; whether the monitored callsinclude only messages; and whether the monitored calls include bothmissed calls and messages.

As shown in FIG. 6, if none of the monitored calls are associated with acontact in the subscriber's personal address book, generating a voicenotification includes providing the number of missed calls and/or thenumber of messages, without use of an identifier. For example, if amessage and a missed call are received which are not associated with thesubscriber's personal address book, the voice notification provided tothe subscriber may be: “You got a message and missed a call.”

If the monitored calls include only messages or only missed calls and atleast one of the calls is associated with a contact in the subscriber'spersonal address book, the voice notification indicates that thesubscriber received a message(s) or missed call(s), respectively, froman identifier(s). For example, if the subscriber receives a message fromMom, a message from Brian, another message from Mom, and a message fromJohn, the voice notification provided to the subscriber may be “You gotmessages from Mom, Brian and John.” If the monitored calls include bothmessages and missed calls, the voice notification provided to thesubscriber indicates, for example, “You got calls from Mom, Brian andJohn.”

If the monitored calls are each associated with the same contact in thesubscriber's personal address book, the voice notification provided tothe subscriber indicates the number of missed calls and/or the number ofmessages received from the caller. For example, the voice notificationprovided to the subscriber may be: “You got 1 message and missed 2 callsfrom John.”

Upon hearing a voice notification, the subscriber can provide commandsto, without limitation, automatically return a call with voice dialing,drill down further to receive more information about a particular call,or place a new call. For example, if the voice notification provided tothe subscriber is “You got messages from Laura and Mom . . . ,” thesubscriber may interrupt and say “call Mom,” initiating a call to Mom.Alternatively, to get more detail and drill down on each call, thesubscriber may access a message center by, without limitation, saying“message center.”

Using, without limitation, a voice interface, the message center playsback a review of the subscriber's missed calls and/or messages. It is tobe understood that message center functionality may be distributedacross one or more components and/or locations. For example, messagecenter functionality may be provided at the service provider and/or thesubscriber's phone.

Presentation of the messages and missed calls by the message center maybe based on subscriber selected preferences for grouping, ordering,and/or threading. Alternatively, the service provider may havepredefined rules for grouping, ordering and/or threading, which may thenbe, without limitation, customized by the subscriber. Messages andmissed calls may be grouped, for example, by contact and/or whether thecontact is, without limitation, a family, friend, work associate, orsports team member. Examples of ordering include sorting by, forexample, time of call, importance of the group, and/or urgency of themessage (e.g., a number of calls made by the same caller identity).

More generally, the grouping, ordering and/or threading may be based onvarious metadata regarding the monitored calls. Such metadata mayinclude, without limitation, particular words used in a message (e.g., athread may group all monitored calls that mention soccer), caller id,and/or date.

In various embodiments, retrieval of the caller's name from thesubscriber's personal address book may allow the message center toeffectively group and present missed calls and/or messages. Calls by thesame contact may be grouped, albeit missed calls and/or messages, sothat all the information someone needs about a contact (such as how manytimes they called, any messages, and the time-stamps of their calls) issummarized together rather than being dispersed by calls from othercontacts. This makes message and missed call review by the subscribermore efficient.

In grouping calls by the same contact, missed calls and/or messages fromthe same phone number representing the contact, along with missed callsand/or messages from other phone numbers representing the same contact,may be grouped together. For example, if the subscriber receives amissed call from Brian (home phone) and a missed call from Brian (cellphone), the response provided by the message center may be “You missed 2calls from Brian. The last one came in about an hour ago.” In variousembodiments, users may have multiple names listed for the same phonenumber. The name that is played back may then be based on the user'soutgoing calls. For example, the name that was most recently used tomake an outgoing call to that number will be played back. If asubscriber has never voice dialed the number in question, then the namethat was most recently added to the subscriber's personal address bookwill be played back.

When there is greater than 1 missed call from the same phone number orsame contact, the time may advantageously be given for only the mostrecent call. Thus, the subscriber is not overburdened with the times ofevery missed call.

When there is greater than one message from the same phone number orsame contact, the message center may indicate the total number ofmessages from that phone number or contact, followed by each messagepreceded with its order in the list and a relative time stamp.Navigational commands may be played after each indication of a message.For example:

System: You got 3 messages from John. The first one's from around 10 AM.

-   -   Hey, gimme a call back when you get this.    -   You can say Call Back, Erase, Next or Tell Me My Choices.        Subscriber: Next        System: The second one's from around 11 AM.    -   Hey, I'm heading out so call me on my cell phone.    -   You can say Call Back, Erase, Next or Tell Me My Choices.        Subscriber: Next        System: And, this one came in around noon.    -   Guess you're still not around. Hope to talk to you soon.    -   You can say Call Back, Erase, Next or Tell Me My Choices.

When there's a combination of missed calls and messages from the samephone number or the same contact, the details/breakdown of calls fromthat person may be given. Each message may then be preceded with itsorder in the list and a relative time stamp. Navigational commands areplayed after each message. For example, if there is one missed call andone message, the voice response provided by the message center may be“You missed a call from John and got this message around 10 AM . . . .”If there were multiple missed calls and one message, the voice responseprovided by the message center may be “You missed 2 calls from John andgot this message around 10 AM . . . .” If there was one missed call andmultiple messages, the voice response provided by the message center maybe “You missed a call from John and got 2 messages. The first one's fromaround 10 AM . . . .” If there were multiple missed calls and multiplemessages, the voice response provided by the message center may be “Youmissed 2 calls and got 2 messages from John. The first one's from around10 AM . . . .”

The message center may play back the missed calls and/or messages in thefollowing exemplary order. Calls within any of these categories areplayed back in chronological order (from least recent to most recent).Calls from the same phone number or same contact may be groupedtogether, as described above. Note that in addition to providing themissed calls and/or messages in a particular order, the message centermay also provide to the subscriber the capability to randomly access oneor more groups.

1. All missed calls and/or messages associated with a contact in thesubscriber's personal address book.

2. All remaining calls, excluding missed calls from blocked numbers.

3. All missed calls from blocked numbers are grouped together. These maybe counted individually.

In various embodiments, particular words used in a message may be usedto form threads of messages, as described above. In such embodiments,the speech to text/speech recognition engine may be capable of searchingmessages received for a user-definable word or phrase. Messagesincluding the user-definable word or phrase are grouped together as athread, which may be further sorted and/or grouped by, withoutlimitation, time and/or caller identity.

FIG. 7 is a table illustrating navigational command voice promptsprovided by a message center based on the type of missed calls ormessages, in accordance with one embodiment of the invention.Navigational command voice prompts may be provided by the message centerupon, without limitation, playing missed calls and messages, asdescribed above. For example, the command voice prompt may depend on,without limitation: whether the missed call and/or message is a contactin the subscriber's personal address book, or a blocked number, whetherdue to user preference or network restrictions, and/or if it is a missedcall or message.

FIG. 7 specifies, without limitation, which voice command prompts areplayed for each missed call/message type. Commands with an “X” are inthe main prompt. Upon receiving the main prompt, the subscriber may beprovided with further options by stating, for example, “Tell me mychoices.” Commands in highlighted cells are in the Tell Me My Choicesprompt “[Handle]” signifies that a command has special handling for thatcall type.

For example, for a missed call from a non-contact, here are theappropriate prompts:

Main Prompt: You can say Call Back, Add to Address Book, Next or Tell MeMy Choices.

Tell Me My Choices Prompt: Here're all your choices. You can say Repeat,Call Back, Add to Address Book, Keep as New, Erase or Next.

FIG. 8 shows exemplary voice responses provided by the message centerwith regard to the time the missed call or message was received. Thesetimes may be calculated based on the time zone of the subscriber's homephone number.

As shown in FIG. 8, the times provided by the message center mayadvantageously be presented as the time elapsed since the missed call ormessage, as opposed to conventional voicemail systems that provide thetime of the missed call or message. The time may also be given inapproximate measures.

A benefit of using a relative time instead of an exact time (e.g.,“around noon” instead of 12:04 pm) is that it more closely matches theway people naturally speak. Therefore, it more closely resembles howuser's perceive time, making it quicker and easier for them to processthe information. For example, instead of thinking ‘2:23 pm’ a subscribermay think ‘a few minutes ago’, or ‘two hours ago’. It also gives abetter sense of immediacy (e.g., “Jane called a few minutes ago” ratherthan “Jane called at 5:42 pm”). Providing elapsed time is also moreefficient than a hearing a long time prompt, such as “Message 1 receivedon Thursday, April 8 to at eight thirty eight pm.”

In various embodiments, a missed call or message may be marked as oldand may consequently be accessed by the subscriber saying, for example,“past calls.” Within the message voice interface, a missed call ormessage may be marked as old when, without limitation, the subscribersays any of the following in response to the missed call review: ‘CallBack’, ‘Add to Phone Book’, ‘Repeat’, ‘Next’, ‘Erase’, ‘Save’.Additionally, a missed call may be marked as old if the subscriber voicedials a contact after hearing that contact's name within a callnotification that occurs, for example, upon the subscriber goingoff-hook. When this occurs, all missed calls from that contact may bemarked as old.

In various embodiments, calls may be erased, for example by the usersaying ‘Erase’ on the voice interface, so that they are, withoutlimitation, permanently removed from the 30 message center, or moved toa ‘deleted messages’ folder. Missed calls from blocked numbers may beautomatically removed from the message center. Missed calls and/ormessages may also be marked as new, such that they are not classified as“a past call” and are reviewed upon accessing the message center.

In various embodiments, the disclosed methods may be implemented as acomputer program product for use with a computer system. Suchimplementation may include a series of computer instructions fixedeither on a tangible medium, such as a computer readable media (e.g., adiskette, CD-ROM, ROM, or fixed disk) or transmittable to a computersystem, via a modem or other interface device, such as a communicationsadapter connected to a network over a medium. The medium may be either atangible medium (e.g., optical or analog communications lines) or amedium implemented with wireless techniques (e.g., microwave, infraredor other transmission techniques). The series of computer instructionsembodies all or part of the functionality previously described hereinwith respect to the system. Those skilled in the art should appreciatethat such computer instructions can be written in a number ofprogramming languages for use with many computer architectures oroperating systems. Furthermore, such instructions may be stored in anymemory device, such as semiconductor, magnetic, optical or other memorydevices, and may be transmitted using any communications technology,such as optical, infrared, microwave, or other transmissiontechnologies. It is expected that such a computer program product may bedistributed as a removable media with accompanying printed or electronicdocumentation (e.g., shrink wrapped software), preloaded with a computersystem (e.g., on system ROM or fixed disk), or distributed from a serveror electronic bulletin board over the network (e.g., the Internet orWorld Wide Web).

Although various exemplary embodiments of the invention have beendisclosed, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art thatvarious changes and modifications can be made which will achieve some ofthe advantages of the invention without departing from the true scope ofthe invention. These and other obvious modifications are intended to becovered by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method implemented by a computer system for organizing voice mail messages and instant messages, comprising: receiving one or more voice mail messages; performing speech recognition on the one or more voice mail messages to convert speech of the one or more voice mail messages to text of the one or more voice mail messages; receiving one or more instant messages; analyzing, by the computer system, the one or more voice mail messages and the one or more instant messages to identify at least one important voice mail message and at least one important instant message, wherein the at least one important voice mail message and the at least one important instant message are identified based at least in part on evaluating a user preference; and grouping the text of the at least one important voice mail message and the at least one important instant message.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the analyzing is based on a rule set.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the rule set is customized.
 4. The method of claim 2, wherein at least one rule of the rule set is one of: heuristically based and empirically based.
 5. The method of claim 2, wherein one or more rules of the rule set take into consideration a human weighting of importance.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the analyzing takes into consideration a human weighting of importance.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the analyzing takes into consideration an importance of a group associated with a sender of the one or more voice mail messages to identify the at least one important voice mail message.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the analyzing takes into consideration an importance of a group associated with a sender of the one or more instant messages to identify the at least one important instant message.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the analyzing takes into consideration an urgency of the one or more voice mail messages to identify the at least one important voice mail message.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the analyzing takes into consideration an urgency of the one or more instant messages to identify the at least one important instant message.
 11. A computer system for organizing voice mail messages and instant messages, comprising: a processor; and a memory storing computer-executable instructions that when executed by the processor cause the computer system to: receive one or more voice mail messages; perform speech recognition on the one or more voice mail messages to convert speech of the one or more voice mail messages to text of the one or more voice mail messages; receive one or more instant messages; analyze, by the computer system, the one or more voice mail messages and the one or more instant messages to identify at least one important voice mail message and at least one important instant message, wherein the at least one important voice mail message and the at least one important instant message are identified based at least in part on evaluating a user preference; and group the text of the at least one important voice mail message and the at least one important instant message.
 12. The computer system of claim 11, wherein the analyzing is based on a rule set.
 13. The computer system of claim 12, wherein the rule set is customized.
 14. The computer system of claim 12, wherein at least one rule of the rule set is one of: heuristically based and empirically based.
 15. The computer system of claim 12, wherein one or more rules of the rule set take into consideration a human weighting of importance.
 16. The computer system of claim 11, wherein the analyzing takes into consideration an importance of a group associated with a sender of the one or more voice mail messages to identify the at least one important voice mail message.
 17. The computer system of claim 11, wherein the analyzing takes into consideration an importance of a group associated with a sender of the one or more instant messages to identify the at least one important instant message.
 18. The computer system of claim 11, wherein the analyzing takes into consideration an urgency of the one or more voice mail messages to identify the at least one important voice mail message.
 19. The computer system of claim 11, wherein the analyzing takes into consideration an urgency of the one or more instant messages to identify the at least one important instant message.
 20. A computer storage device storing computer executable instructions for organizing voice mail messages and instant messages, the computer executable instructions, when executed by a processor, cause a computer system to: receive one or more voice mail messages; perform speech recognition on the one or more voice mail messages to convert speech of the one or more voice mail messages to text of the one or more voice mail messages; receive one or more instant messages; analyze, by the computer system, the one or more voice mail messages and the one or more instant messages to identify at least one important voice mail message and at least one important instant message, wherein the at least one important voice mail message and the at least one important instant message are identified based at least in part on evaluating a user preference; and group the text of the at least one important voice mail message and the at least one important instant message. 